Sunday, January 18

Cluster 19  14th Cycle Expansion Phase – Day 9

Friends, please join us in reciting this prayer today to support the teaching we are engaged in during our expansion phase:

All praise, O my God, be to Thee Who art the Source of all glory and majesty, of greatness and honor, of sovereignty and dominion, of loftiness and grace, of awe and power. Whomsoever Thou willest Thou causest to draw nigh unto the Most Great Ocean, and on whomsoever Thou desirest Thou conferrest the honor of recognizing Thy Most Ancient Name. Of all who are in heaven and on earth, none can withstand the operation of Thy sovereign Will. From all eternity Thou didst rule the entire creation, and Thou wilt continue for evermore to exercise Thy dominion over all created things. There is none other God but Thee, the Almighty, The Most Exalted, the All-Powerful, the All-Wise. 

Illumine, O Lord, the faces of Thy servants, that they may behold Thee; and cleanse their hearts that they may turn unto the court of Thy heavenly favors, and recognize Him Who is the Manifestation of Thy Self and the Dayspring of Thine Essence. Verily, Thou art the Lord of all worlds. There is no God but Thee, the Unconstrained, the All-Subduing. 

-Bahá’u’lláh

And we share these quotes for your reflection today:

What “oppression” is more grievous than that a soul seeking the truth, and wishing to attain unto the knowledge of God, should know not where to go for it and from whom to seek it?

Baha’u’llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 30

Know ye the value of this time. Strive ye with all your hearts, raise up your voices and shout, until this dark world be filled with light, and this narrow place of shadows be widened out, and this dust heap of a fleeting moment be changed into a mirror for the eternal gardens of heaven, and this globe of earth receive its portion of celestial grace.

-Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 35

Space may be the final frontier, but the human spirit will always be the most important one. The effort to improve both our own spiritual nature and the spiritual quality of our civilization is one that is continuing and never ending. This is the challenge given us by a loving God.

Saturday, January 17

Cluster 19  14th Cycle Expansion Phase – Day 8

Friends, please join us in reciting this prayer today to support the teaching we are engaged in during our expansion phase:

Praise be to Thee, O Lord my God! I implore Thee, by Thy Name which none hath befittingly recognized, and whose import no soul hath fathomed; I beseech Thee, by Him Who is the Fountainhead of Thy Revelation and the Dayspring of Thy signs, to make my heart to be a receptacle of Thy love and of remembrance of Thee. Knit it, then, to Thy most great Ocean, that from it may flow out the living waters of Thy wisdom and the crystal streams of Thy glorification and praise. 

The limbs of my body testify to Thy unity, and the hair of my head declareth the power of Thy sovereignty and might. I have stood at the door of Thy grace with utter self-effacement and complete abnegation, and clung to the hem of Thy bounty, and fixed mine eyes upon the horizon of Thy gifts. 

Do Thou destine for me, O my God, what becometh the greatness of Thy majesty, and assist me, by Thy strengthening grace, so to teach Thy Cause that the dead may speed out of their sepulchers, and rush forth towards Thee, trusting wholly in Thee, and fixing their gaze upon the orient of Thy Cause, and the dawning-place of Thy Revelation. 

Thou, verily, art the Most Powerful, the Most High, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

-Bahá’u’lláh

A society can be at its best only when all of its people are given the same unfettered opportunity to learn and achieve and be the best that they can be.  The capacity for excellence is a gift that our Creator has bestowed upon us.

Friday, January 16

Cluster 19  14th Cycle Expansion Phase – Day 7

Friends, please join us in reciting this prayer today to support the teaching we are engaged in during our expansion phase:

O Thou kind Lord! O Thou Who art generous and merciful! We are servants of Thy threshold and are gathered beneath the sheltering shadow of Thy divine unity. The sun of Thy mercy is shining upon all, and the clouds of Thy bounty shower upon all. Thy gifts encompass all, Thy loving providence sustains all, Thy protection overshadows all, and the glances of Thy favor are cast upon all. O Lord! Grant Thine infinite bestowals, and let the light of Thy guidance shine. Illumine the eyes, gladden the hearts with abiding joy. Confer a new spirit upon all people and bestow upon them eternal life. Unlock the gates of true understanding and let the light of faith shine resplendent. Gather all people beneath the shadow of Thy bounty and cause them to unite in harmony, so that they may become as the rays of one sun, as the waves of one ocean, and as the fruit of one tree. May they drink from the same fountain. May they be refreshed by the same breeze. May they receive illumination from the same source of light. Thou art the Giver, the Merciful, the Omnipotent.

– ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

And we share these quotes for your reflection today:

The teacher, when teaching, must be himself fully enkindled, so that his utterance, like unto a flame of fire, may exert influence and consume the veil of self and passion. He must also be utterly humble and lowly so that others may be edified, and be totally self-effaced and evanescent so that he may teach with the melody of the Concourse on high — otherwise his teaching will have no effect.

-‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, no. 217, p. 282

This is the day in which to speak.  It is incumbent upon the people of Baha to strive, with the utmost patience and forbearance, to guide the peoples of the world to the Most Great Horizon.  Every body calleth aloud for a soul. Heavenly souls must needs quicken, with the breath of the Word of God, the dead bodies with a fresh spirit.  Within every word a new spirit is hidden.  Happy is the man that attaineth thereunto, and hath arisen to teach the Cause of Him Who is the King of Eternity.”

-Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 82

As the day approaches for the inauguration of  a new President of the United States, let us acknowledge that the leadership of the affairs of man is entrusted by God to leaders of government, but let us more importantly appreciate that the true leadership to which we should look is spiritual and divine in nature, that its ultimate source is God, and that Bahá’ís are committed to the belief that Bahá’u’lláh is our Creator’s Representative for mankind today and that He has shown us the true path.

Thursday, January 15

Cluster 19  14th Cycle Expansion Phase – Day 6

Friends, please join us in reciting this prayer today to support the teaching we are engaged in during our expansion phase:

O my Lord! O my Lord! This is a lamp lighted by the fire of Thy love and ablaze with the flame which is ignited in the tree of Thy mercy. O my Lord! Increase his enkindlement, heat and flame, with the fire which is kindled in the Sinai of Thy Manifestation. Verily, Thou art the Confirmer, the Assister, the Powerful, the Generous, the Loving.

– ‘Abdu’l-Bahá  

And we share this quote for your reflection today:

Be unrestrained as the wind, while carrying the Message of Him Who hath caused the Dawn of Divine Guidance to break. Consider, how the wind, faithful to that which God hath ordained, bloweth upon all the regions of the earth, be they inhabited or desolate. Neither the sight of desolation, nor the evidences of prosperity, can either pain or please it. It bloweth in every direction, as bidden by its Creator. So should be every one that claimeth to be a lover of the one true God. It behoveth him to fix his gaze upon the fundamentals of His Faith, and to labor diligently for its propagation. Wholly for the sake of God he should proclaim His Message, and with that same spirit accept whatever response his words may evoke in his hearer. He who shall accept and believe, shall receive his reward; and he who shall turn away, shall receive none other than his own punishment.

-Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 339

Development of humankind’s spiritual capacity means more than the end of war. It means that we can fully harness our resources to learn about our natural world and how to better and more successfully live in it without harming either the environment or ourselves.

Wednesday, January 14

Cluster 19  14th Cycle Expansion Phase – Day 5

Friends, please join us in reciting this prayer today to support the teaching we are engaged in during our expansion phase:

O my God, aid Thou Thy servant to raise up the Word, and to refute what is vain and false, to establish the truth, to spread the sacred verses abroad, reveal the splendors, and make the morning’s light to dawn in the hearts of the righteous. 

Thou art, verily, the Generous, the Forgiving.

– ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

And we share this quote for your reflection today:

The Pen of the Most High hath decreed and imposed upon every one the obligation to teach this Cause…. God will, no doubt, inspire whosoever detacheth himself from all else but Him, and will cause the pure waters of wisdom and utterance to gush out and flow copiously from his heart.  Verily, thy Lord, the All-Merciful, is powerful to do as He willeth, and ordaineth whatsoever He pleaseth.

                Wert thou to consider this world, and realize how fleeting are the things that pertain unto it, thou wouldst choose to tread no path except the path of service to the Cause of thy Lord.  None would have the power to deter thee from celebrating His praise, though all men should arise to oppose thee.

-Baha’u’llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 313